Lowering Spring Install (Tein H-Techs)
04-13-2005, 04:42 PM
#1
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Lowering Spring Install (Tein H-Techs)
So you say you want to install the springs yourself. Well here is an account of installing my Tein H-Techs on my FM tC.
As most of the posts here say, if you are not familiar with working on cars and understanding the mechanics of the different systems involved do not try. There are some pretty big forces stored in the springs and other heavy items that can do damage to you and to other unintended systems on your car. Personally, I began this project with some automotive resto experience, including suspension, but never shock/strut assemblies and never on anything newer than 1972. I made thumbnails, because I left the originals at full size. Personally I like it when I can see little details in people's pictures that they may have left out in the copy. May be slow on 56k, must are around 600kb or so.
What you will need: (i.e. what I used during the course of the project, may not need all of these things, but I did.)
Set of metric sockets in 3/8" and 1/2" drive.
Set of metric combo wrenches, especially a big one to use as a cheater bar.
Floor jack/Jack stands
Spring Compressors (wouldn't attempt without)
Screwdriver Set
Sharp packing knife
Something long and pokey
Adult beverages
Front springs:
I began with the fronts because I thought that they would be more difficult. Turns out I was wrong. The fronts are a cake walk compared to the rear. Start by putting the vehicle up on jack stands and remove the wheels. I am going to show the passenger side and then you can do the driver. I will make just a few points about that side.
1. Remove the plastic rivets that hold down the plastic thingy that goes under the windshield wipers. I just used a philips screwdriver and pressed down on the center little button. They pop right out.
2. Remove the dust cap from the center of the strut and break the nut loose. As you can see I did this after I had the strut removed and it is a pain. You only need to give the nut a couple of turns. DO NOT REMOVE NUT HERE.
3. Remove the bolt holding the brake line and the nut holding the tie rod. The nut on the tie rod took some muscle.
4. Remove the 2 large bolts holding the strut to the spindle. This really took some muscle. Here is where I use a large combo wrench to help get some extra torque.
5. Finish off by removeing the nuts on the top of the strut and the strut/spring assembly should fall right out. Be careful not to let it rip any wires or tear the CV boot.
6. Compress the spring to take the pressure off of the strut cap and finish removing that nut we loosened earlier. The spring compressors were free, borrowed from O'Reilly Autoparts. (Make sure there is no tension on the cap before removing otherwise all end parts of the strut will be ejected at a high rate of speed.)
7. As per the instructions that came with the springs, I removed about 1/2" from the front bump stop with a sharp packing knife.
8. Reassemble as dissasebled, you were taking note and you did read these directions in full before begining didn't you? In case you are like me, make sure of the following: The spring end sits in the groove on the bottom plate of the strut, then strut boot, then bump stop(pointy end down), then top plate(check rotation between bottom mounting flange and screw postions. Does it match the way you are going to bolt it back up?) then paper washer then topcap. I was able to press these together enough to get the nut back on by hand.
9. Now do the other side. The only thing difficult about the driver side is that the plastic windwhield wiper cover thingy doesn't lift up much, so use a combo wrench here.
10. Break time. (Adult beverages)
Rear Springs:
These are a real pain. Lots to do here + late at night + ____ed off = not as many pictures! Jack up rear and put jack stands underneath. I couldn't find a great spot so I extended them all the way up and under the body mounts. Remove the tires. Blah, blah, blah.
1. Remove the big bolt/nut holding the strut to the lower swing arm. Ha ha ha yeah right this wouldn't budge an inch with a 1/2" drive and everything I had. I also broke a 3/8" breaker bar trying to use a long pipe to break the nut. What finally worked was removing the bolt holding the upper suspension mount and rotating the spindle/rotor as far out of the way as I could. Then using a 1/2" drive and a 7/8" combo wrench I was finally able to get it to move. Whew!
You can see the upper mount disconnected and the combo wrench sticking out to the upper right.
2. Now remove the dust cap, loosen the top nut on the strut and the three other nuts holding the strut to the car. Remove strut, replace spring and you are done.
3. No wait, you are telling me that to get to the top of the strut you have to remove pretty much most of the interior of the car excluding the dash. Yep! First remove your sub box and amp and all of the other little things from back. Remove decking cardboard and the foam organizer things. (They have plastic rivets, just pull up) Then remove the cargo hook, and the top phillips screw from rear side panel.
The grocery bag hook works like this:
Insert something long and skinny down the hole to press the tines that hold the clip in. Needs to fit down the hole, and at least 3" or so long. pressing the tines pushes them together and releases the hook. The pics may help a bit.
4. Before you go pulling all of this out, you will realize that the back panel is being held down by the cargo hook/baby seat tie down panel right behind the rear seats, and the rear passenger side panel. Gonna have to remove these first. Remove the runner along the inside of the door, pull out the back seat, the plastic rivet under the seat, and the grocery bag hook.
Check out Mandos' great thread on removing the interior panels.
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=45238
5. Now you can remove the rear panel and see the top of the strut. Remove the plastic dust cap, ( I had to use a phillips screwdriver to pry it out of its home) and loosen the top nut on the strut. Loosen the three nuts holding the strut to the body
and remove the strut.
Panel removed:
The front/third little nut I had to use a 4" extension on a 3/8" drive with a combo wrench helper to get out:
(Shot looking back between back seat, laid down, and right rear fender)
6. Now use your spring compressor again to disassemble the strut/spring and replace. From memory, put the spring on the strut, then bump stop, then strut boot then the big rubber donut then the cap, then the little rubber donut, then the washer and then the nut. Remeber to get the bottom of the spring in it's little groove. You will probably have to use the spring compressor to get the spring short enough to get the nut back on the strut. IMPORTANT: when you put these back together you must perfectly align the three bolts on the top and the mount on the bottom of the strut, so that when you put the strut back, with the bolts in the bolt holes, the mount is perfectly perpendicular to the mounting flanges on the lower swing arm. If you do not, you cannot turn the strut to get the bolt through. I had to do this twice on either side (put in and check angles, then remove, compress, turn a bit, uncompress, and test again, not fun with hand tools and spring comressors)
7. Once you have the strut back in, you may have to use the jack to get the lower arm back up to the height needed to reconnect the upper arm. Put the nuts back on the bolts on the top, put the bolt through the mount and flange and tighten everything back down. Replace the dust cap and reafix all the interior work. Now clean up tools and go for a drive. (Or in my case sleep)
All told the project took me about 7 hours with one short drink break. I had the worst time with the rears and compressing and uncompressing the spring is very time consuming. Here are some pics with the springs installed, I think it looks much better and there is a definent improvment to cornering. Ride feels about the same over bumps still though.
Please excuse the typos and lack of technical descriptions for parts I do not know the names of. Thingy is still a technical term where I come from. Anything a forgot or any input you have from doing this please comment. I ordered the springs from OptionImports.com because they had the best price. The transaction went great.
As most of the posts here say, if you are not familiar with working on cars and understanding the mechanics of the different systems involved do not try. There are some pretty big forces stored in the springs and other heavy items that can do damage to you and to other unintended systems on your car. Personally, I began this project with some automotive resto experience, including suspension, but never shock/strut assemblies and never on anything newer than 1972. I made thumbnails, because I left the originals at full size. Personally I like it when I can see little details in people's pictures that they may have left out in the copy. May be slow on 56k, must are around 600kb or so.
What you will need: (i.e. what I used during the course of the project, may not need all of these things, but I did.)
Set of metric sockets in 3/8" and 1/2" drive.
Set of metric combo wrenches, especially a big one to use as a cheater bar.
Floor jack/Jack stands
Spring Compressors (wouldn't attempt without)
Screwdriver Set
Sharp packing knife
Something long and pokey
Adult beverages
Front springs:
I began with the fronts because I thought that they would be more difficult. Turns out I was wrong. The fronts are a cake walk compared to the rear. Start by putting the vehicle up on jack stands and remove the wheels. I am going to show the passenger side and then you can do the driver. I will make just a few points about that side.
1. Remove the plastic rivets that hold down the plastic thingy that goes under the windshield wipers. I just used a philips screwdriver and pressed down on the center little button. They pop right out.
2. Remove the dust cap from the center of the strut and break the nut loose. As you can see I did this after I had the strut removed and it is a pain. You only need to give the nut a couple of turns. DO NOT REMOVE NUT HERE.
3. Remove the bolt holding the brake line and the nut holding the tie rod. The nut on the tie rod took some muscle.
4. Remove the 2 large bolts holding the strut to the spindle. This really took some muscle. Here is where I use a large combo wrench to help get some extra torque.
5. Finish off by removeing the nuts on the top of the strut and the strut/spring assembly should fall right out. Be careful not to let it rip any wires or tear the CV boot.
6. Compress the spring to take the pressure off of the strut cap and finish removing that nut we loosened earlier. The spring compressors were free, borrowed from O'Reilly Autoparts. (Make sure there is no tension on the cap before removing otherwise all end parts of the strut will be ejected at a high rate of speed.)
7. As per the instructions that came with the springs, I removed about 1/2" from the front bump stop with a sharp packing knife.
8. Reassemble as dissasebled, you were taking note and you did read these directions in full before begining didn't you? In case you are like me, make sure of the following: The spring end sits in the groove on the bottom plate of the strut, then strut boot, then bump stop(pointy end down), then top plate(check rotation between bottom mounting flange and screw postions. Does it match the way you are going to bolt it back up?) then paper washer then topcap. I was able to press these together enough to get the nut back on by hand.
9. Now do the other side. The only thing difficult about the driver side is that the plastic windwhield wiper cover thingy doesn't lift up much, so use a combo wrench here.
10. Break time. (Adult beverages)
Rear Springs:
These are a real pain. Lots to do here + late at night + ____ed off = not as many pictures! Jack up rear and put jack stands underneath. I couldn't find a great spot so I extended them all the way up and under the body mounts. Remove the tires. Blah, blah, blah.
1. Remove the big bolt/nut holding the strut to the lower swing arm. Ha ha ha yeah right this wouldn't budge an inch with a 1/2" drive and everything I had. I also broke a 3/8" breaker bar trying to use a long pipe to break the nut. What finally worked was removing the bolt holding the upper suspension mount and rotating the spindle/rotor as far out of the way as I could. Then using a 1/2" drive and a 7/8" combo wrench I was finally able to get it to move. Whew!
You can see the upper mount disconnected and the combo wrench sticking out to the upper right.
2. Now remove the dust cap, loosen the top nut on the strut and the three other nuts holding the strut to the car. Remove strut, replace spring and you are done.
3. No wait, you are telling me that to get to the top of the strut you have to remove pretty much most of the interior of the car excluding the dash. Yep! First remove your sub box and amp and all of the other little things from back. Remove decking cardboard and the foam organizer things. (They have plastic rivets, just pull up) Then remove the cargo hook, and the top phillips screw from rear side panel.
The grocery bag hook works like this:
Insert something long and skinny down the hole to press the tines that hold the clip in. Needs to fit down the hole, and at least 3" or so long. pressing the tines pushes them together and releases the hook. The pics may help a bit.
4. Before you go pulling all of this out, you will realize that the back panel is being held down by the cargo hook/baby seat tie down panel right behind the rear seats, and the rear passenger side panel. Gonna have to remove these first. Remove the runner along the inside of the door, pull out the back seat, the plastic rivet under the seat, and the grocery bag hook.
Check out Mandos' great thread on removing the interior panels.
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=45238
5. Now you can remove the rear panel and see the top of the strut. Remove the plastic dust cap, ( I had to use a phillips screwdriver to pry it out of its home) and loosen the top nut on the strut. Loosen the three nuts holding the strut to the body
and remove the strut.
Panel removed:
The front/third little nut I had to use a 4" extension on a 3/8" drive with a combo wrench helper to get out:
(Shot looking back between back seat, laid down, and right rear fender)
6. Now use your spring compressor again to disassemble the strut/spring and replace. From memory, put the spring on the strut, then bump stop, then strut boot then the big rubber donut then the cap, then the little rubber donut, then the washer and then the nut. Remeber to get the bottom of the spring in it's little groove. You will probably have to use the spring compressor to get the spring short enough to get the nut back on the strut. IMPORTANT: when you put these back together you must perfectly align the three bolts on the top and the mount on the bottom of the strut, so that when you put the strut back, with the bolts in the bolt holes, the mount is perfectly perpendicular to the mounting flanges on the lower swing arm. If you do not, you cannot turn the strut to get the bolt through. I had to do this twice on either side (put in and check angles, then remove, compress, turn a bit, uncompress, and test again, not fun with hand tools and spring comressors)
7. Once you have the strut back in, you may have to use the jack to get the lower arm back up to the height needed to reconnect the upper arm. Put the nuts back on the bolts on the top, put the bolt through the mount and flange and tighten everything back down. Replace the dust cap and reafix all the interior work. Now clean up tools and go for a drive. (Or in my case sleep)
All told the project took me about 7 hours with one short drink break. I had the worst time with the rears and compressing and uncompressing the spring is very time consuming. Here are some pics with the springs installed, I think it looks much better and there is a definent improvment to cornering. Ride feels about the same over bumps still though.
Please excuse the typos and lack of technical descriptions for parts I do not know the names of. Thingy is still a technical term where I come from. Anything a forgot or any input you have from doing this please comment. I ordered the springs from OptionImports.com because they had the best price. The transaction went great.
04-14-2005, 12:29 AM
#4
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Long Island, NY
Posts: 247
word, i used an impact wrench as well. oh and the large bolts?..more like a breaker bar, rather than muscle. if youre using a regular size torque wrench, you'll ____ your pants and grind your teeth before you get them loose. i almost did.
04-29-2005, 07:32 AM
#7
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: PHX, 85027 :-D
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Great write up, here's some more help for people:
I found that the rears were a pain because you have to align the strut and the hat (with the king nut) the right way before trying to install it.
Here's the trick, there are two upper strut bolts towards the rear of the car. If you align the opening of the lower strut bolt (that bolts to the control arm) to the inside upper-rear bolt it will drop right into place. No need to put the spring compressor back on and turn it. here's a pic of what I mean:
This is the LR strut. The bolt allows you to see the alignment I'm talking about. Picture the upper bolt to the left actually being to the inside of the trunk when installed.
Also to give you guys an idea of how much lower the springs are while not installed look at this...and remember the front springs are even shorter then the OEM's.
I'll take a pic of my BCP tC once its clean.
I found that the rears were a pain because you have to align the strut and the hat (with the king nut) the right way before trying to install it.
Here's the trick, there are two upper strut bolts towards the rear of the car. If you align the opening of the lower strut bolt (that bolts to the control arm) to the inside upper-rear bolt it will drop right into place. No need to put the spring compressor back on and turn it. here's a pic of what I mean:
This is the LR strut. The bolt allows you to see the alignment I'm talking about. Picture the upper bolt to the left actually being to the inside of the trunk when installed.
Also to give you guys an idea of how much lower the springs are while not installed look at this...and remember the front springs are even shorter then the OEM's.
I'll take a pic of my BCP tC once its clean.
04-30-2005, 04:00 AM
#10
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Team ScioNRG
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Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 43
http://www.rareintellect.com/install/SciontC032.jpg
K, for those of you that might not know, this was the HARDEST PART, that bolt was a B*%ch. HOW DID YOU DO THAT WITH AN ITTY BITTY WRENCH??? well i didnt try that system you had, but my friend and i had to use a breaker bar ( like 3 feet long) for the tork
K, for those of you that might not know, this was the HARDEST PART, that bolt was a B*%ch. HOW DID YOU DO THAT WITH AN ITTY BITTY WRENCH??? well i didnt try that system you had, but my friend and i had to use a breaker bar ( like 3 feet long) for the tork
05-10-2005, 05:49 PM
#12
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Bay Area
Posts: 395
Originally Posted by THEtCguy
http://www.rareintellect.com/install/SciontC032.jpg
K, for those of you that might not know, this was the HARDEST PART, that bolt was a B*%ch. HOW DID YOU DO THAT WITH AN ITTY BITTY WRENCH??? well i didnt try that system you had, but my friend and i had to use a breaker bar ( like 3 feet long) for the tork
K, for those of you that might not know, this was the HARDEST PART, that bolt was a B*%ch. HOW DID YOU DO THAT WITH AN ITTY BITTY WRENCH??? well i didnt try that system you had, but my friend and i had to use a breaker bar ( like 3 feet long) for the tork
05-10-2005, 06:16 PM
#13
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Bergen County, NJ
Posts: 184
HEY NICE WRITE UP AND PIX BUT THE END ABOUT "springs from OptionImports.com because they had the best price. " THAT'S A LITTLE OFF CUZ I JUST CHECKED AND THEY OFFER FREE S/H BUT THEIR H-TECH'S FOR THE TC ARE $209. I'M LOOKING TO FIND THEM OFF EBAY FOR ABOUT $120 PLUS S/H, GOT A RELIABLE SELLER WHO'S GOT THEM AT THIS PRICE. ANY OTHER GOOD H-TECH DEALS PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT ?
~TONY~
~TONY~
05-30-2005, 05:44 PM
#15
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: az
Posts: 39
i installed my springs yesterday. here's a tip so you don't spend tons of time trying to line up the lower hole. I got mine close with the spring compressors, mounted the upper bolts and then spun the lower with a large screw driver. Lined up prefect. The springs then setteled into place on the perchs. Hope this helps someone out.
05-03-2007, 03:21 AM
#17
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Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 292
Well price H Techs
Go to www.intensescion.com $150. I think it costs like 10 bucks to ship so 160 all together.
05-06-2007, 09:32 AM
#20
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Scion Evolution
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Detroit
Posts: 151
i have that on my tc and.....PREPARE FOR THE STEP 6!!!BECAREFUL WHEN YOU UNBOLT THE SUSPENSION!! THAT THING FLEW OUT AND disassembled by it self and hit my head.....i almost went into a coma.....it hurts and i realized.....tough guy can cry too....